Demon's Eye
by Yaoi Junkies
Summary: [Slash:Mpreg:HoroRen] A bigger piece of destiny has been revealed for Yoh and the gang...as they awaken one by one, a force higher than anyone ever imagine has been revived..
1. The Ultimate Sin

Tao Ren dragged himself to the bathroom, leaving dark scuffmarks over the clean white tile. The magnificent tub pushed away into the corner of the spacious bathroom had never looked so inviting. Mechanically he shed his navy blue, Adidas shorts, black and white checked boxers, white and blue jersey sporting the THS logo, and his wife-beater. The cold air running through the empty room raised goose bumps on his flawless tan skin. With the same apathetic demeanor, he turned the water on scathing hot, and waited for it to fill.

"Master Ren, is there anything wrong?" Ren's guardian ghost, Bason, glided through the wall unhindered. His deep voice echoed eerily through the sparkling white bathroom, making his master flinch a bit. Golden eyes half-lidded, Ren yawned and waved his ghost away.

"I'm just tired, Bason. No need for alarm." He climbed into the porcelain tub with the eagerness of a cat on catnip. A nice relaxing bath would do his aching body and swirling, twirling mind some good. Every fiber in Bason's body told him to remain by his master's side, but his training forced him to obey the command. Nodding but at unease, Bason left the bathroom the same way he had come. Ren sighed, running long, slender fingers through his beautiful mane of deep purple hair. It was true that he was tired, but there was so much more to it.

He relaxed completely, and let the water work it's magic on his muscles, kneading and soothing them. He rested his head against the back of the bathtub, on the squishy, purple water pillow that was constantly there. The little nubs on the pillow massaged his neck in a subtle manner. Now completely at ease, Tao Ren sunk partway under the boiling water.

How long has it been since I last saw him? Three years? Four? It seems like forever. I wonder what he's doing this very moment. Hn. He's probably forgotten all about me. That would be just like him. Too bad I can't forget.

_ His beautiful face plagues my every dream, thought and action. I would give anything to just hear one more idiotic comment run from his mouth…_

Asakura Yoh had won the Shaman Tournament five years ago. Ren wasn't sure _how _it had been won; he had been unconscious for a while. However, when he woke up, he was in the arms of the blue-haired snowboarder, Horohoro, and everyone had been flitting over him and Yoh in bouts of worry. Amongst all the shouting, he had just barely been able to make out: '_I can't believe Yoh actually did it…!'_ He didn't remember much after that.

When everyone had fully recovered, there had been a sad farewell. Yoh and Anna were going to go back to the Asakura Temple, Ryu was going to return to his old gang, Lyserg had upped and disappeared, and worst of all, Horohoro was returning to the North!

For almost half a year, Ren had harbored the most sinful of desires for his teammate. He never let them known, of course. Being brought up in a family where it is taught that homosexual desires were sinful and punishable by death didn't exactly spur him on.

So he waited. Casting furtive and wishful glances in the snowboarder's direction whenever he felt safe, dreaming of a world where they could be together with no one thinking any different. Needless to say, Ren had sunk into depression when Horohoro had left.

Ren sighed, blowing bubbles out through his nose and watching their rainbow colors swirling in the pale light that radiated from the light bulb across the room. He watched as the foaming bubbles drifted away from him in the slight wave that pushed out each time in and exhaled.

Heart aching, Ren opened his eyes and stared lifelessly at the perfectly off-white ceiling. _It feels like the sun is shining_, he thought in a daze. _Yet, no birds are singing anymore. The silence is ringing in my head. It's stuck on repeat, or so it seems. _He sighed again, dark hair rippling behind him as he adjusted to a more comfortable position in the tub. _It's dragging on. I can't stop these walls they keep caving in. It's gone too far. Where's my mind? Why can't time stop fear, this paranoia? It's a never- ending story, and it starts with me. So, maybe…it should end with me. _

The fear and pain he had felt welling up deep in his chest exploded in spastic torrents of ambiguous tears. They flooded down his face silently, etching deep red lines into the smooth skin. He had now idea why he was crying, it was the first time in many, many years, and the sensation left him with a void in the pit of his stomach. The electric void of emptiness stretched and writhed until it had completely consumed him, mind body and soul.

Tao Ren gave up struggling for life. He gave up struggling for happiness. He gave up on his own sinful soul. He let himself sink down farther and farther until al he could see were the flames of Hell.

Hello there! First work of fiction together, so let us know what you think! Unfortunately, we have not seen the end of the series and are not completely positive on all the workings of everything, so if we get something wrong, then just let us know, then leave us to our own devices. Read and review, ne? Any questions, feel free to contact one of us through AIM!

**Story title**: Demon's Eye by Deep Purple

**Chapter title**: The Ultimate Sin by Ozzy Osbourne


	2. What Happened To You?

Annoying elevator music sung in his ears as Horohoro stood staring at the glowing buttons in front of him. He bounced anxiously on the balls of his feet, eyes glancing for a moment at the still sealed doors.  
  
Why is it that on the day I needed it the most, technology is being so damn slow? First that five-hour plane trip, and now this!  
  
He sighed heavily. Technology was really the last thing on his mind. He couldn't deny it anymore. All he thought about was that arrogant Chinese shaman.  
  
From the moment he'd met Ren, the purple-haired boy invaded his dreams and heart. On the day he left to go back to the North, he had come close to admitting these things to the other, but never found the nerves or the words. But then again, he was sure that he'd caught Ren looking at him such longing before he left.  
  
Ever since, in the day he'd think of that moment at the end of the Shaman Fight when he finally got to feel Ren in his arms. At night, golden eyes pierced through the darkness of his dreamland--he swore he could feel it in his heart that Ren was thinking about him, too.  
  
But that was impossible! Ren would never give him the time of day if he got up the nerve to tell him. From day one he'd insulted and fought with Horohoro, though Horohoro himself always enjoyed thinking of them as 'lovers quarrels.'  
  
The last five years had passed like centuries- painfully slow. He could never find an excuse to go back to Tokyo that his clan would accept. they told him his place was with his people. If they wouldn't even allow him to go see Ren as a friend, there was no doubt in his mind that his clan would forbid them being together. Love had a nasty sense of humor...  
  
He shook his head to clear his mind as the bell dinged and the shiny metal doors slid open. This was no time for reminiscing!  
  
He had gotten a phone call at one a.m. that morning from Yoh, saying that Bason had brought Ren to the Shrine, who said that the shaman had tried to kill himself. That had made Horohoro drop the phone on the spot. But Yoh went on--after the phone had been picked up--to say that they'd taken Ren to the hospital in Tokyo and that Horohoro could come if he wanted. Like he didn't want to come! But then again, no one knew about his secret love for the little shaman. Well, except Kororo, but he told her everything.  
  
He hadn't even packed a bag when he left for the one small airport near where he lived. Kororo was the only comfort he had during the seemingly endless plane ride, the unbearable drive in the taxi, and the idiotic questioning he received at the front desk of the hospital. But now was finally going to see Ren again. It wasn't exactly the way he had imagined it, but he was going to see him!  
  
He walked through the plain white halls, following the directions the nurses up front had given him. As he came to the waiting room, it wasn't hard to find the room he was looking for--not many people had ghost visitors waiting outside their doors. He recognized Amidamaru and Tokagero immediately, talking to one another, serious expressions on their faces. That wasn't good.  
  
"H-Hey guys," he said nervously as he approached. "Long time no see." They looked over at him, surprised, and then smiles spread across their faces.  
  
"Good to see you, Lord Horohoro," Amidamaru greeted happily, bowing slightly. "It certainly has been a long time." But just as easily as the smile came, it left. "I assume you'll want to see him right away?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," he said sadly. He wished he could think of some kind of joke to cheer up the samurai, but obviously all that would do was make it worse. He turned the knob slowly and pulled the white door open.  
  
The four people inside jumped nearly a foot in the air at the sudden noise. Horohoro looked around at the familiar faces. Though they had all grown up, it was easy to see that the other visitors were Yoh, Manta, Anna and Ryu. Yoh gave him that crooked smile, though it was dimmed with sadness.  
  
"Hey!" his voice squeaked a little at the bad attempt at cheerfulness. "I'm glad you're here." He looked over at the bed that sat on the other side of the room. Anna walked over and wrapped an arm around the boy's waist, comforting him. For a moment Horohoro felt envious--at least their love was acceptable. Their families had even encouraged them. He sighed sadly and walked over to the bed.  
  
A boy lay in the bed, covered with white sheets and a grayish blanket. His face was pale, he had dark circles under his eyes and his purple hair fell in his face. Horohoro gulped- even after all this time, Ren was still beautiful.  
  
At the risk of the others noticing, he reached out and touched Ren's cheek, lightly stroking the soft skin.  
  
"The doctors say he'll be fine," Anna's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He pulled his hand away. "They ran some tests and said that if he'd been deprived oxygen any longer, he'd most likely have done some serious brain damage. They'll do more tests when he wakes up." Horohoro looked at her hopefully.  
  
"So he'll definitely wake up, right?" he asked nervously. Anna looked to the side and leaned against the wall. This time Ryu decided to answer.  
  
"They say he'll wake up--at some point. Whether it's a day, a week, a month—they're not sure." The blue haired snowboarder looked devastated. He sunk into an open chair by the bed, rubbing his head. A month? He may take that long to wake up?  
  
What am I saying? It could be even longer than that. Doesn't matter. Ill wait forever for him to wake up. Suddenly Bason appeared in the room, but no one jumped--they hardly even reacted. Gloom lingered in the air like a stifling smoke.  
  
"Hey, Bason," he said quietly. They ghost looked over at him, surprised, and gave a small smile. "How did this happen?" Like a candle in a strong wind, the smile flickered out, and a grief-stricken face replaced it.  
  
"I do not know," he said sorrowfully. "I had sensed for years that something was troubling Master Ren, but you know him, he let on like everything was normal. Last night he said he just needed to relax, take a bath, and ordered me to leave. But then, almost an hour later..." The Chinese warlord's voice broke. "Gods! Why did I leave him alone? Why didn't I see this coming?" The ghost cried into his hands, still mentally censuring himself. It was a strange sight--such a large and foreboding man, sobbing so miserably.  
  
"Don't worry, Bason," Horohoro said softly, touching his shoulder. "Ren'll wake up. He's way too stubborn to admit defeat yet--you know him." The large ghost gave a small, grateful smile. Yoh let out a big yawn and all attention turned to him. The Ainu laughed quietly and glanced at the clock. It was nearly noon. He sighed; all of them must've been at that hospital for eleven hours now! "You alright, Yoh?" He asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," he said, attempting another happy smile. Anna chuckled sadly, hugging him again.  
  
"You all have had a long day," Horohoro said. Looking over at Ryu, he noticed the darker man was showing signs of exhaustion. "Why don't you all go home and get a few hours of sleep? Ill keep an eye on Ren," they began to protest, but he cut them off. "You all have been here since before one a.m. I just got here--let me take over. I'll be fine. Kororo can keep me and Bason company." He gave a sad smile.  
  
"If you're sure," Ryu said, standing up and stretching from his chair. Horohoro nodded slowly in reply. The other four walked out, and he knew that their ghost allies probably left with them, too. He sighed and leaned on his hands, staring at the unconscious boy in the bed in front of him.  
  
"Well, Ren," he said sadly. "Now that they left, can you tell me why you did this? You're making all of us worry so much, you jerk." His voice cracked and before he knew it, he broke down into quiet sobs. Tears streamed down his cheeks and onto his snowboarding jacket.

A/N: Hiness all! In case u can't tell bai now, this is Saroya speaking! Lolz. I just wanna say thank you to all who reviewed last chappie! It was written bai da one and only and extra special Rei! This one was me, tho! Lolz. Lalala! Me too hyper! I'm out!

Story Title: Demon's Eye by Deep Purple   
Chapter Title: What Happened To You? by Offspring


	3. Bullet and The Bullseye

_ It's dark. Where am I?_

Ren's head swirled and danced in the ballet of tuneless music. His slender, almost skinny body felt lighter than air as he fought to move himself and obliterate the oppressing darkness.  
  
_ I'm…alive…?_

Somewhere around him, Ren could hear a gentle murmuring, like a faraway, lonely brook. He felt a warm, bubbly sensation surround him, something akin to a warm bath, and he found himself being lifted out of the murky blackness and up toward a dazzling light.

"…nothing…long time…"

"…therapy…hospital…"

"…stubborn…he is…"

His ears twitched as he faded in and out of his unconscious abyss. Two people were conversing in hushed tones near him. One was a deep, throaty growl. The other was a light, forced sound. Both sounded strangely familiar, but Ren could not identify them for his life.  
  
Bason stopped talking. The silver connection he had with his master was jingling slightly, alerting him of increased brainwaves.

"Master Ren?"

Horohoro turned and gazed down at the still figure dressed in a starched, white hospital gown, up to his armpits in the sterile blanket, the deep purple of his shark fin hair stood out in an outlined halo with tears in his eyes. A stray strand strayed into the pale, haggard face and the snowboarder reached over and swiped it away.

A dark hand came up and snatched weakly at his wrist. Piercing cat-like eyes gazed at him half lidded.  
  
IV's and other wires cascaded down from his arms, draping themselves across the safety bar as a pet snake would. The beeping heart monitor was moving a little faster to keep up with the respiration that was now increasing. The oxygen intake was sharply heard as Ren began breathing on his own, fogging up the clear plastic mouth cover. The blanket near his feet twitched as his knee spasmed slightly.

"Master Ren! You are awake!"

Tao Ren could do nothing but hold lightly onto Horohoro's slim wrist for dear life. Hell, he couldn't take his eyes off of the spiked up blue hair, the embroidered headband, crazy, light snowboarding turtleneck jacket.

Usui Horokeu moved his hand down until he was holding the hand of the one he loved so dearly—and almost lost it. He was bursting at the seams. His mouth and heart yearned for a confession at his expense, but his brain cautioned against it…scratch that: _strictly forbade it. _It reminded him of all the times Ren had scoffed, made fun of, and mentioned how much homosexuals disgusted him. That probably went for bisexuals as well. Which would probably include Horohoro.

"How're ya feeling?"

Ren's eyes remained half-lidded but he grunted. He was enjoying the feeling of Horo holding his hand and stroking his thumb. It sent needles down his arm and spread throughout his central nervous system until his whole body was in euphoria from just that single touch.

_If he can do just that with the stroke of his thumb, _he thought through a small haze, _imagine what he could do with everything else…_

A small blush crept to his face when he realized what he had just processed through his mind. Bason chose that moment to make himself scarce.

"Why'd you do it, Ren? Why go to such extreme measures for attention? Did I rub off that much?"

Horohoro's eyes were shadowed as Ren snorted again and sighed; a slight push of air.

Why did he do it? That's what the Chinese shaman couldn't figure out himself. Any number of reasons could have contributed: loneliness, depression, a slight miscalculation of just how warm the bath water really was? Maybe he just gave up?

"Gave up on what?"

? _Maybe I really am going out of my mind. Did I say that aloud, or can he read my mind?_

"Ren?"

"I just gave up on…everything."

His voice was cracked with sleep and a bit slurred from the drugs. There was utter silence in the room. It was so thick you could have sliced in cleanly in half with a fingernail. The heart monitor bleeped a bit, and the door behind Horohoro opened. A nurse with flyaway red hair, big breasts and a pudgy frame bustled in with an air of arrogant importance.

She walked to the edge of the bed, completely ignoring the stares from the shaman wonders, and pulled up the clipboard containing Ren's information up to her nose, sniffing indignantly.

"Suicide case, eh? Well," she let the brown clipboard shirked back to its place and hung by the silver beaded chain. She swiped a couple strands of her bright hair out of her face and grabbed Horohoro by the upper arm, guiding him forcefully out of the ham-smelling room. "The patient will have to undergo intense therapy for the next few hours. No visitors!" the white wooden door was slammed rudely in his face before he could utter a word. His black eyes shrunk and his mouth hung open. He stayed that way for a good few hours.

"Tray!" Horohoro looked up as Oyamada Manta came sprinting down the hall, earning annoyed stares from the hospital personnel and few visitors mingling in the hallway. A few inches taller since the Shaman Fight, the little man was still shorter than everyone else.

Unlinking his fingers and standing up, Tray welcomed his friend.

"Yoh and Anna were too busy today to come up, so they sent me to check on Ren! How is he?" Manta's eagerness and true concern for the other shaman allowed the usual smile to grace Horohoro's face.

"Ren woke up a few hours ago, but I don't know how he's doing. Some fat nurse shoved me out."

"That n-nurse w-w-wouldn't happen t-to be her, w-would it?"

Horohoro didn't even want to turn and look at what Manta was pointing at behind him. He could practically feel the lightning fly out from behind him, and if his hair weren't already in spikes, it would have stood on end. Still, like in every show, he turned around and gulped.

It was indeed the nurse that had shoved him out of the room earlier that day.

The blue-haired snowboarder seemed to shrink under the anger that radiated from the burly lady. Somewhere around them, a bell dinged, and a big boxing glove swerved out of nowhere and struck him in the face, sending him flying like a limp, wet noodle. Blood spurted out his nose as the same bell dinged again and the fat lady struck a pose.

"Nnngg…chya…ouwie…" Tray's eyes swirled around as he lay stunned on the once-sterile floor.

"Well, at least the fat lady's not singing…" Manta chuckled good-naturedly from his safe spectators seat in the corner. The redhead smiled at him, mistaking him for a little kid, and ruffled his dirty-blonde hair affectionately. Manta giggled. "She doesn't strike me as the motherly type…" he looked down at the still form of Horo. "You can get up now. She's gone."

He sat up and wiped the small creek of blood from his nose. The Ainu was feeling a bit lightheaded from the loss of blood, but nothing a good soda wouldn't cure.

"Man, that lady's got one hell of a right hook. Wanna go see if Ren's awake?" the Koro-Pokkur look-alike nodded and followed the taller man through the door that stood slightly ajar. The room was lightened with open shades, and the object of everyone's worry was sitting up in bed, watching Wheel of Fortune, and sipping some tea. He looked more than a little annoyed by the presence of a pulsing vein in his head.

Nurse Chupicabra from Mexico had left the TV on an American broadcast, clearly against her patients wish. The purple-haired man was drinking his tea with surprising outwardly calmness considering the circumstances.

"Somebody please turn this annoying box off before I blow it up…" he mumbled into his cup. His two friends were quick to obey; not wanting to get themselves blown up in the process. When the television was successfully shut off without anyone being killed, burned, or blown up, Manta and Horo sat on the edge of the bed on either side of the Chinese shaman. The pulsing vein on his head eventually ceased but his eye twitched occasionally.

"How are you feeling, Ren? That nurse didn't pummel you to the ground, did she?" the brunette blinked his huge eyes at the stoic man, hoping for at least a grunt. He didn't even get that.

"Ren? What kind of 'therapy' did that behemoth give you?"

Ren's eye twitched again and the vein returned, only larger than before.

"She recommended I stay at the hospital for another few weeks to be watched and undergo intense psychological testing. Then she sat here for hours asking me the dumbest questions I've ever heard. Bason, however, convinced her that I needed no treatment and that I just fell asleep in the bathtub." He chuckled humorlessly.

"Is that what really happened?"

'Yes, Master. I am curious to know that myself.' Bason sat cross-legged in the air by the large window that overlooked Tokyo's main street.

"Of course, you ninnies. The water was too warm and too relaxing. I fell asleep and almost drowned. Thank you for saving me, Bason," Ren answered after a moment. He put his cup of tea on the small brown tray in front of him and took to looking out the window, right through his spirit ally.

A comfortable silence hung in the room. However, Manta seemed to be the only one fooled by Tao Ren's smooth lie. Then, the ring of a cell phone broke the silence with a cracked whip. Irritably, Ren glared at Manta, who blushed and hurriedly pulled the small black device out of his pocket.

"H-Hello? Oh, hi Yoh! Yeah, yeah. Ren's fine…" the midget slipped easily off the bed and walked out of the room, waving a small hand in a goodbye. "…irritable as always, you know him…"

If it were possible, Ren probably would have glared harder, but Horohoro's laughter stopped him.

"Do you know how ridiculous you look trying to glare while you're in a hospital gown?" he howled, pointing a finger. The seventeen-year-old looked down, and blushed. The gown had a slit in one side and was showing off most of his muscular thigh. He looked like a teenager getting ready for her first prom. Horo heard Bason try to stifle a chuckle and he laughed even harder, rolling around on the floor, knocking things over until he couldn't breathe.

"When you decide to stop laughing, perhaps you can tell me why your still here?" the blue-haired snowboarder looked up and the prone figure of his shaman rival glaring at him, hands on his hips in an aggressive stance.

"Why I'm still here?" he echoed in confusion. The Ainu stopped rolling around and sat cross-legged on the floor in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be here? We thought you had tried to kill yourself so we all came up to see you. What's wrong with that?"

Ren's eyebrow twitched. Being in a room all alone with the object of his desire didn't make it easy for him to be angry. However, something had to be done to save himself from embarrassment.

"You saw me. Now, get out." Turning and stalking back to the barred bed, Ren completely missed the look of hurt that crossed Horo's face. He pulled back the ham-smelling sheets and climbed in, fully intending to go back to sleep.

"Get out? You don't mean that, Ren. Ren, what's wrong? What did I do to upset you? Why did you really try to kill yourself? Talk to me Ren!" he had reached the bed by now, standing on weak legs, supported only by the safety bar. He reached out a hand to touch the mane of purple hair flowing from the scalp of the one he loved, only to have it slapped away harshly.

"Did you not hear what I just said? Are you really that dense? I said, get out now!" cat-like yellow eyes blazed with an untold fury as Horohoro physically cringed.

_What's wrong with him?_

_ What's wrong with me?_

The hand that had been pushed away now came back full force, gripping Ren's hair in an iron fist. He yanked his head back, forcing those haunting eyes to look at him. He was angry, perhaps angrier than Ren himself, and an ice-cold aura surrounded him. Horo's eyes darkened as he looked at Ren unmercifully.

"What have you got to hide, Tao Ren? What is it that you don't want me to see?"

_Those eyes. _Ren shivered a bit as he gazed into the blank, dark depths of those coal black eyes. _I feel like they're spearing me through, sifting through my every thought. They're beautiful._  
  
Alas, no matter how beautiful thoughts were, and no matter how he longed to hold that hand that was about to spring tears from his eyes, training took over.

"I have nothing to hide. Now, get your filthy hands off me before I…"

"Before you what? Kill me?"

His bluff called, Ren tried to yank the pale, cold hand out of his silky locks.

"I wouldn't give you the honor," the ritualistic banter of insults came and went, each trying to dent the other's façade into giving out the real motives. Horohoro was trying to get Ren to crack and open up, something was clearly bothering the other man. Ren was hiding underneath a mask of anger, hoping, praying and willing himself not to crack under the pressure. His head was starting to fog up a bit, and not much made sense. He had a feeling a stake would be driven through him at any moment.

"…then what is your problem! Your acting like a teenage girl that doesn't want the guy she likes to know she likes him!"

The room grew uneasily silent. Above, Bason and Kororo watched in utter shock as Horohoro nailed the whole problem right on the head. Ren could do nothing but stare as the glass wall before him shattered into millions of tiny pieces. His body pulsated and blood roared in his ears.

"That's it, isn't it?" Horohoro stated quietly as he back away from the bed, letting go of Ren's hair. "You like me, am I right?" both his fists clenched at his sides, the muscles in his arms contracting and bugling out slightly. "Answer me! I said '**am I right**!'"

Ren brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them for comfort and buried his head in shame at being caught in a better mousetrap.

"H-hai…" he mumbled miserably.

Author's notes: Well, there's chapter three for ya! I can't even begin to describe how much of a bitch it was to write this chapter long. I'm more one for short, to the point chapters, so this one took a lot of patience. Have you ever noticed that all hospitals seem to smell like ham? Hopefully it came out to your liking and I didn't screw up anything too bad. Constructive criticism (no matter how harsh) is begged for and recommended. Author's don't feel to great about their work if people just say 'I love this story, please continue!' However, if specific points are listed of what you liked and disliked, than the author can work on it, or remedy it. Thank you to Falcon Strife who pointed out the mistake in the last chapter. I have corrected it and apologize for it. That was long winded. Oh, no! I have only two pieces of Sweet and Sour pork left and so much sauce! What am I going to do?!

**Story title: **Demon's Eye by Deep Purple

**Chapter title: **Bullet and The Bullseye by The Distillers


	4. Run Riot

W-what?! Shock ran through Horohoro's body. He stared down at the Chinese man, completely and utterly dumfounded. Wait, shouldn't he be happy right now? His secret love had just confessed that he liked him for crying out loud! But this wasn't the way he'd imagined it at all. All those times he'd dreamed about Ren telling him he liked him, the other man was never curled up in a hospital bed, head bowed in shame- like a beaten child. Horo could tell he'd gone way too far.  
  
Ren glanced up slightly from his arms. Why hadn't the Ainu baka said anything by now? Hadn't he expected that answer? A shiver of dread coursed through his body. Maybe Horo had only said that to make fun of him- just their usual bickering. They always fought when they were together, right? Had he accidentally acknowledged the fact he like Horo when the other was just teasing?  
  
"R-Ren, I-" The snowboarder began to say but Ren cut him off.  
  
"I think you got what you came here for, baka, so why don't you just get out," he growled dangerously. Black eyes lowered, Horo turned and walked to the door- Kororo and Bason had taken their leave a few moments before, just after Horo had stated exactly what was wrong with Ren.  
  
The door gave a hollow click behind him as he entered the hallway and Horo saw Manta sitting on a bench outside the room. The short boy looked up at him questioningly.  
  
"Is everything all right?" Concern was written all over Manta's face, but the Ainu just shook his head. Kororo and Bason hovered a few feet away, and glanced over nervously, obviously wondering the same thing.  
  
But there was no answer Horo could give. Now Ren was both pissed and humiliated- not only had the spiky haired boy called him out, but he'd done it in front of other's, shattering the small bit of pride Ren had managed to hold onto. And worse of all, at the point when it would've been perfect to confess to Ren, all Horo could do was stand there stupidly, staring wide eyed. He'd come off as a jerk when he was trying to compensate for the hurt he was feeling when Ren was insulting him, ordering him to go away.  
  
Inside the pale hospital room, Ren still had his head buried in his arms, absolutely refusing to let himself cry. If he cried- it would be in vain- he'd be crying for losing something he never even had. The snowboarder didn't return his feelings and probably never would, he'd figured that from the beginning, but now they couldn't even have what they had before all of this happened. At least before if Horo never admitted liking him, Ren would have been able to still talk to him, spend time with him- even if it was just arguing.  
  
But now the baka knew how Ren felt. That moment would hang in the air between them forever now. Ren wouldn't be able to bear it. He would never talk to the Ainu named Horohoro again. He'd survived being alone almost all is life, not needing anyone and he could do it again.  
  
Horo stayed the night at the old inn that Anna and Yoh used to live in. They'd decided to keep it after the tournament, in case they ever felt like staying in Tokyo again. Ryu stayed there too.  
  
The next morning, he woke up, very surprisingly, before the rest of the group. He decided to head out immediately, so he could have some chance to talk to Ren without everyone else there- the last thing he wanted or needed was to humiliate the boy further. It was nearly ten o'clock in the morning by the time he reached the hospital. He tried to come up with some way to tell the Chinese shaman how he felt on the way up in the elevator, but when he exited, the scene that lay before him threw all thoughts far away.  
  
The grayish couch and several chairs were ripped open at the cushions and the legs chopped to timber. The television was broken open, looking to have spontaneously combusted, with smoke rising from the wires inside. The front desk was broken in two, leaning inwards from the perfect crack in its center. All computers were in the same state as the television. Nurses ran frantically about, trying to convince panicking families to remain calm as they berated the staff. A group of three doctors conversed behind the broken desk, faces furious and embarrassed at the same time.  
  
"Um...excuse me?" Horo asked, approaching the doctors. As he moved closer, he caught a small glimpse of the door to Ren's room. The entire door was set up against the wall next to the entrance, many cut marks in the pale wood. He felt a feeling of dread as he asked his next question. "What happened here?"  
  
The one closest whirled around, ready to scream, but when he saw the snowboarder, calmed himself and sighed. "Some psycho who was staying here for treatment blew the whole place up! He said that if we didn't let him check himself out of here, he'd blow us up, but I never thought he'd do it!" He face was red, eyes frantic.  
  
"Who was it?" The Ainu asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer- he knew too well who it was by now.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" he sneered, jerking his thumb in the direction of the hallway. "The patient in the only room with the door blown off!" Horo's black eyed widened, he'd gotten his answer, it was Ren. The doctor looked at him suspiciously. "Don't tell me you know that boy?"  
  
Horohoro nodded, gulping as he saw the man's face turn even redder. For the next half an hour the doctor screamed at him for bringing a psychopath to a hospital and why they hadn't warned the staff about Ren's real condition and how much money it was going to take to repair or replace everything in the office.  
  
"And if your friend doesn't come back here and take responsibility for the damage he'd caused, tell him we'll see him in court!" the older man called after him as Horo walked back onto the elevator. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of Ren going to court. He'd sooner destroy the entire court house than admit any kind of shame or responsibility for the damage.  
  
What are you talking about, payment for my actions?! He could imagine Ren saying it. It's those bakas at the hospital's fault for not listening to the threats they receive!  
  
Horohoro burst out in a fit of laughter that lasted until he was out of the hospital, which earned him some strange looks from staff and visitors. But his smile faded as he went over the situation at hand- he had to find Ren. He couldn't let the boy go without at least letting him know how he felt.  
  
"He what?!" Yoh nearly fell back from the table as Horo went over the details he had gotten from the doctor. "He literally blew the place up?!" Ryu and Manta couldn't suppress their chuckles from where they sat on either side of Yoh, and Anna just stared into space out the window.  
  
"Yeah," The blue haired boy said, smiling weakly. "But no one got hurt- well, that red-headed monster got a black eye from it, but if it were me, I'd have to say she'd have gotten much worse."  
  
"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do but let him cool down for a while, huh, guys?" Manta said after a few moment s of awkward silence.  
  
"Yeah, it would probably be best if we let Ren have some time to himself before we try to talk to him," Yoh agreed. "If we try to now, he may blow us up like all that stuff at the hospital." Yoh and the others laughed, but Horo remained quiet.  
  
This is all my fault. If I hadn't acted like that, Ren could've stayed at the hospital and gotten the treatment he needed. Damn, why did I have to go and be such a jerk?!  
  
"You okay, Horo?" Yoh asked suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts.  
  
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he sighed. "But I think I'll head up to the Tao mansion, he's bound to be there."  
  
"No, it'll all be fine. Just give him a f-"  
  
"No, Yoh!" Horo jumped to his feet, eyes flashing angrily. "I am not about to sit here while Ren goes and tries to kill himself again up in that nearly deserted home of his!"  
  
"Just listen, Horo," Yoh said firmly, standing up too. "All the Taos are up there, and I'm sure that Bason informed them on what's happened- they'll watch him. Right now I think Ren needs a break from us, and if what Manta told me is true, it may be best if you waited even longer before seeing him yourself." Horo looked down at the small boy through narrowed eyes, and Manta looked off to the side.  
  
"I honestly don't care what you think, Yoh," the blue haired Ainu growled. "I will go see him if I think it's what is best." He turned and began to exit the room, but felt Yoh's strong grip on his shoulder, he looked at Yoh out of the corner of his eye, glaring dangerously, but found the other's brown eyes full of concern.  
  
"What happened between you and Ren, Horo?" he asked sadly. "Ever since you came back that night, you've been acting strangely. You're never this reckless."  
  
"There are some times when one must be reckless," Horohoro replied, smirking. Yoh smiled back.  
  
(The Tao Mansion)  
  
"Master Ren! Open up!" Bason tired to go through the locked door, but again found that he could not.  
  
"Leave me alone, Bason," he heard Ren's tired voice mutter through the door.  
  
Inside, Ren sat outside the giant window, staring out at the stars- memories of what had happened in the last few days flashing before his eyes.  
  
"Ren, would you stop being such a baby?" Tao Jun walked through the hall, to the large, dark wood door to Ren's room. "Aren't you a little old for this kind of behavior?"  
  
Ren stood up angrily, giving Jun a very rude hand gesture through the door. "Can't I get any peace for myself around here? It seems all I've gotten from you all is 'Oh, you poor thing,' 'Are you sure you're all right?' 'How could you do such a thing, Ren?' All I need is to be left the hell alone!"  
  
Jun giggled quietly on the other side. Bason gave her a distressed look.  
  
"Should we be worried? What if he tries something again?!" Bason asked worriedly. Jun laughed harder.  
  
"Do not worry, Bason. Ren is just going through a hard time right now- his teenage years are getting the better of him. Trust me, all will be fine." She walked back out, a smile still playing on her lips.  
  
Story Title: Demon's Eye by Deep Purple Chapter Title: Run Riot by Def Leppard  
  
A/N: Saroya is sorry if Ren seems a little OOC in this chappie, but I couldn't resist adding in that last scene! At first me was gonna just have Horo say he's leaving, but then I thought, "Now, what could Ren be doing right now?" and this scene came to mind. I hope you all likey! Remember, criticism is always welcomed from both me n Rei! Luv yall tons and Stay tuned for the next chap!


	5. Jumper

"Owwwwowww!"  
  
Birds scattered as something gray and smoky shot up from the bright foliage of the forest. It disappeared behind the golden fingers of the sun, and was gone from all sight. Then, just as birds began settling back into their nests, another cry broke the sound barrier and the same smoky missile shot back down to the muddy ground. There was a mighty crash, and all the trees within a ten-foot radius were splintered.  
  
Horohoro sat in a crater of mud rubbing his now drenched blue head. His normally spiky locks now hung in clumps around his shoulders, and were in dire need of a hairbrush. The rain had not ceased last night whilst Horo had made his way to the Tao residence, and a loss of sleep for a night had not done well for his complexion.   
  
Sometimes, he doubted his sanity.   
_  
Why am I doing this?_ He thought to himself and he slipped on another loose rock. He slid a few feet, before regaining his balance and dragging himself back up the hill. _I mean…what he said to me…being so cold…I shouldn't go after him…but my…my heart…it won't stop aching…_  
  
Out of breath and wishing he hadn't left his snowboard at Yoh's house, Horohoro finished climbing the cliff and stood, looking out at the luscious Tao Castle. The sight literally took his breath away.   
  
Horo collapsed in a muddy, wet heap at the top of the hill, Kororo shrieking.

"Yoh? Are you sure it was safe to let Horohoro go alone?" Manta paced back and forth in front of the television, blocking his best friend's view of the show. Yoh sighed again and stuffed another piece of chicken in his mouth. He set down the chopsticks in his hand and looked directly at the pacing brunette.  
  
"I told you already, Manta. It wasn't safe to let him go, but we have no choice. Let Horo do what he's got to do." Amidamaru took this opportunity to leave the room before things got really ugly.   
  
"Asakura Yoh! What are you thinking?" Manta stood directly in front of the Shaman King, hands on his hips. "How could you let him go like that? He could get himself killed!"  
  
"Who could get himself killed?"  
  
Tao Ren chose that moment to walk in the door.  
  
Around them, the world froze. Nothing seemed to stir as two pairs of black eyes stared into a single pair of bright yellow ones. A bit of rice hung from Yoh's mouth as Manta's eyes took on a blank, dead stare.   
  
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he raised an eyebrow and set his dark backpack next to the doorway. He shed his windbreaker, hung it up on the peg on the wall, and went to stand in front of his two other friends. "And who's going to get themselves killed? Well? Answer me!"  
  
Manta keeled over backwards, letting the shock take him. Horohoro was as good as dead, now.  
  
"R-R-R-Ren! What are you doing here?" Yoh pointed a shaky finger in the general direction of the youngest Tao as if he were seeing another spirit. "We thought you went back to China!"  
  
"I did…is there something wrong with wanting to come back?" something wasn't right here, and Ren was determined to get to the bottom of it. "What's going on?"  
  
Yoh followed Manta's cue and keeled over as well, looking much like a dog playing dead. Amidamaru materialized behind the short Chinese shaman.   
  
"Master Ren, Master Horo left a few days ago. He said he was going to go see you. Why are you here and not there? Did he not let you know?"  
  
_ Went to China…in search of…me? But…why…?_  
  
Betraying nothing, Ren picked up his backpack and turned out the door.   
  
"I'll send Bason after him. For now, I think I'll go take a nap…" he yawned for emphasis and trudged up the stairs, leaving behind two very faking dogs, and one baffled ghost.

  


  
  
There was something cool on his forehead. It was wet, too. Either way, it felt good.   
  
Horohoro smiled contentedly and relaxed, willing himself to sink back into darkness.   
  
_ Snow was falling. The cold, beautiful flakes blanketed the ground like a snug fur coat. The sky was dark, seeming to take you through hyperspace with the white dots looking like stars. Everything was so cold. Horo could stand the cold, but this was something different…something more…sorrowful._

"Kororo?"

His voice echoed through the vast wasteland of snow and reverberated back to his own ears. There was no poof and happy giggling that he was so used to.

"Hello? Anyone there?" he took a few tentative steps forward. Then, everything crumbled beneath him. He was left clinging to a single glass edge of life.

"Hello? Someone help!"

The cold edge froze his fingers and began spreading down his arm. Ice crystals sprouted and created one weird gauntlet. Black eyes could just make out different patterns covering the front.

Just as he thought he would die in this desolate place, frozen and forgotten, something warm touched his fingers, and the warmth melted the ice. His hand found it locked in a death-grip with someone else.

Horo looked up, shaking crystals from his now stiff hair. His eyes widened as he realized who was pulling him up.

"Ren…"

The Chinese shaman's eyes were shadowed as his mouth moved. Horo couldn't hear what was being said, but he had a feeling he knew, because a moment later, he was plummeting down into the freezing, dark hold. His body froze completely. When he hit the ground, he shattered into a million pieces. A million pieces of broken heart.

"Ren!"

The blanket fell from his shoulders and pooled around his waist. Cool air struck the Ainu's bare chest, reminding him of his frozen nightmare.

Horohoro shivered from something other than the cold as a tear froze midway between his closed eye and his mouth. He pulled up the soft, feather-filled blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders in an attempt to rid the empty feeling growing inside of him. It did no good. He shivered and choked beneath the blanket, willing himself to keep quiet and to himself.

A door opened quietly behind him, but he made no move to acknowledge it. At this point, the icy chill of his nightmare had frozen over his senses, and dulled his thinking.

"Are you awake, Horohoro?"

Horo couldn't bring himself to answer. His sense and brain were still frozen over. Or he was still in shock. He knew that voice…and it wasn't one he wanted to hear.

  
"Horohoro?"

  
He ignored Jun; continuing to stare out the window at the serene, misty, green forest. Mountains were hazy and dark in the background, giving off a peaceful vibration. However, it did nothing to ease the erratic beating of his heart.

"Tray!" she shouted, finally losing her patience. She grinned when he whipped around, eyes big as angry dinner plates.

"Don't use my dub name! You know how the readers hate it!" Jun shrugged.

"Then you should answer me the first time."

"Ah, bite me!" he turned his back and returned to staring out the window. Two large birds flew in lazy circles just outside.  
  
"Don't tempt me. Horo, what happened? Why did you collapse? Why are you here?" Jun pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down, crossing her legs. She took on the look of someone sitting down for a long story.  
  
Horo opened his mouth to answer, the shut it. Instead, he took to looking around the room. It was a dark green room, sparsely lit with a single tall lamp; it was decorated with a purple dragon winding around the pole. The carpet was a bouncy green so dark it looked brown. There was a dresser in one corner, a bookshelf and a bed, in which he was currently about to pass out on. On top of the dresser, there was tiny, fat Buddha figurines, flying dragons, Tigers pouncing, and birds circling. There was even a tiny miniature of what looked like a Chinese martial artist with a gigantic blade.

"Where am I?" he asked quietly, still facing away from Ren's sister. _Why does everything in this bedroom remind me of Ren?_

"Why, you're in Ren's room, of course. Though I really can't figure out what you'd be doing here. Ren's back in Japan. Unless you were here to see me!" she giggled and winked, making Horohoro blush slightly.

The blue-haired shaman flew out of the bed and landed in front of her. The blankets stuck out of the back of his shorts, and one of the pillowcases was caught on his foot. He tripped, busted his lip on the carpet, and succeeded in knocking over Jun's chair.  
  
"Ren's in Japan! What are you talking about!" he started pounding the floor in a fit of a baby-tantrum. "Dammit! I came all the way out here, risking my ass going through that cursed forest, pass out, and I find out he's in JAPAN? I could…I could…faint…" he slumped to the floor in a mock-faint.

_Why would Horohoro go to China looking for me? It just doesn't make sense! The way he ran out of the hospital room that night…I thought he hated me. Feh. He probably does. He probably came all that way just to mock and torment me in front of my family. Well, Jun would understand…but everyone else…?_

Ren finally gave up pondering the ways of the blue-haired Ainu and settled back against the bed he usually slept in when he visited Asakura Yoh. The crisp sheets hardly made noise as he rolled over and prepared to go to sleep. The wind ghosted in from the open window of the upper floor. It danced over his body, making him relax enough to fall into unconsciousness fairly easily.

_ He couldn't see anything, but he could smell rain. It wasn't far off, and it smelled good. Something sounded behind him._

_ "Who's there?" Ren whipped around only to come face to face with Darkness. "Hello? Answer me! I know you're there!"_

_ His bangs fluttered in front of his eyes. The wind circled about him, stirring up dry leaves. They scratched the ground with rotted fingernails. Lightning cracked and the rain started to pour. Ren was drenched in seconds, his purple hair turning black with the wetness. _

_ There were more noises, then laughter. _

_ "I can hear you, you know! Show yourselves!"_

_ Lightning sliced through the sky again, sizzling in the air just above him. His fish fin spike fell around his shoulders. _

_ Something akin to silk slid around his body and this was the first time he noticed he was naked. He welcomed the feeling. Somehow…it felt right. Characters shimmered in the darkness that became his body…his mind. _

_ "Ren…Ren…"_

_ "Horohoro!" he would recognize that voice anywhere! Ren looked around, trying to pierce the darkness that became his home with cat-like eyes. "Horo! Where are you?" he tried to run forward, but something kept him rooted._

_ "Ren. Why did you betray me? Ren! How could you!"_

_ A gigantic ice cicle descended upon him from the unknown. He felt every nerve of his body split in half. Ren looked into the face of who could had once been his lover. Now…only…now…_

_ "Horo…horo…"_

Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long to get out! School's almost over so…yeah. This chapter isn't as written as well as I'd like it, but hopefully it isn't that bad. Please leave a review!

**Story title: **Demon's Eye by Deep Purple**  
Chapter title: **Jumper by Third Eye Blind


	6. Gotta Keep 'Em Separated

**A/N**: If you are homophobic, please don't read any further. **THIS IS A YAOI WARNING  
**  
When Ren awoke the next morning, he remembered nothing. Of course, this was perfectly normal as most people never remember their dreams, but he couldn't shake the feeling something important went on last night...  
  
Ignoring the gnawing feeling the pit of his stomach, Ren threw on a long t-shirt and went down for breakfast, compliments of Ryu. There was idle chatter amongst the other three residents; Anna eating her food in relative silence as per usual. However, there was more of an uncomfortable silence that wasn't used to being present.  
  
"Hey...did anyone..." Manta and Yoh spoke up at the same time between bites. They looked at each other and giggled a bit nervously before falling silent again. Ren looked down at his rice and miso-soup, wishing it would spontaneously combust. All this skittishness was annoying him.  
  
"So, Ren, have you decided if you're going to go after Horohoro?" Yoh finally asked.  
  
"No," he replied, glaring at him. "Why the hell would I?" Yoh and Manta chuckled, shaking their heads. "Listen, I made it clear last night that I don't care that that idiot decided to risk his life coming after me and," he stopped in mid-sentence, blushing and looking down at his lap. The others laughed again.  
  
"Well, anyway," Ryu said, clearing his throat. "Did anyone else have any strange dreams last night, 'cause I sure did?"  
  
"Yes," everyone answered at once. They looked around at each other, amazed.  
  
"What was yours about?" they chorused again. Anna's left eye twitched.  
  
"Yoh, why don't you start?"  
  
The brunette rubbed his head. "Well, let's see. I remember I was flying through the air with the birds, playing tag, just having fun riding the thermals. Then a huge tornado appeared out of nowhere and sucked me and the little birds right in! After that, a yellow light surrounded me and pushed me out of the cyclone and down to the ground. Man, I thought I was going to die! It was like...a hundred feet to the ground! But then, I just started levitating and...well, then I woke up."  
  
"Interesting..." said Amidamaru, appearing out of nowhere. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully while Manta tried to choke down what bits of rice got caught in his throat. Appearing out of nowhere ghosts never failed to scare him.  
  
"Well, I dreamt I was swimming through the ocean, only I didn't need any scuba gear. I could breathe the water!" Manta exclaimed, shooting out a few bits of rice still in his mouth. He shut his eyes and clasped his hands together. Hearts and sparkles appeared in the background, forcing Ren to nearly choke on his chopsticks in disgust. "But then I started swimming deeper and deeper...I just couldn't control myself! I saw marine life around me, but I couldn't touch it. I saw the sunken city of Atlantis! So I started swimming toward it, but then my lungs started filling with water and I started to drown. Then I woke up..." there was silence around the table as Manta shuddered, remembering the feeling of waking up and not being able to breathe.  
  
"What about you, Ryu?" Yoh asked, trying to mask the sudden chill sweeping over the shamans and friend.  
  
Ryu put his chopsticks down and sat back dramatically. He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling.  
  
"I was walking through a meadow of the most beautiful flowers you've ever seen!" a collection of sweat poured down everyone's faces at this proclamation. "Then I saw something at the end. It was shadowed and stuff; it looked really out of place in the meadow. When I walked toward it, it turned into a roaring fire! Everything in its path was consumed! Luckily, I, in my over egotistical actions just barely managed to scramble out of the way! But, my over-long hair caught fire and then I started to burn! I was twisting and writhing..."  
  
"Is he insane?" Manta asked in a low voice behind his hand. "Does he really expect us to believe that?" Yoh shrugged.  
  
"Hey! Are you guys even listening to me? I'm telling a story over here!" Ryu sat on the floor in a disgruntled manner. "Fine! See if I ever tell you anything of importance ever again!"  
  
Anna sniffed. "I don't think anything coming out of your mouth would ever be worth two seconds of our precious time."  
  
"What was your dream, Miss Anna?" Amidamaru asked respectfully. Her disposition lightened a bit once she knew she was in control again.  
  
"I was sitting with my back to a tree on top of a large hill. It was sunny out, so I thought I might be able to get a tan. When I stretched out, I sunk into the Earth. My body became one with the soil and then I woke up."  
  
"She forgot to mention the part where she fell out of bed..." Yoh added in an undertone to his midget buddy. Manta giggled behind his bowl, then got whapped over the head with Anna's ever present fan.  
  
"Well Ren, what about you?" Yoh asked the Chinese shaman, before the Itako could kill the younger boy. The purple haired boy fell silent, glancing out the window.  
  
It was a few seconds before he answered. "...I don't...really remember..."  
  
"Well, that doesn't help much!" Ryu stated ever-so-obviously from his little corner of the room. It seemed he got over his little insulted pride act.  
  
"Well I'm sorry I can't contribute to this little Pow-wow of yours but I don't remember what my dream was about!" He shouted. "I do know, however, that it had something to do with Ho-"He stopped himself before the name spilt out. Blushing, he leapt to his feet and stormed out of the room.  
  
"What crawled down his pants?" Manta asked, none-too tactfully. Yoh sniggered and cracked a wide grin.  
  
"Horohoro!"  
  
Not too far away, in the Tao house in China, Horohoro lay wide awake as night crept silently upon the land. Dark forepaws extended over the mountains, smothering the forests, and finally hiding the luxurious mansion.  
  
_That...dream..._  
  
Falling, twisting, breaking...that's really all Horo could remember about his dream. Well, no, that wasn't the whole truth. He remembered Ren. He remembered those cat-like eyes...how they pierced through his very soul...how they entranced him to the point of no return. But...  
  
Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, though he bade them not to spill.  
  
_ I wanted to take him in my arms and hold him...but...he let me fall. Is that supposed to tell me something? Ren...  
_  
"Are you just going to sit there all depressed until your Prince Charming comes and sweeps you off your feet with a single kiss?"  
  
The green-haired Tao Jun walked into the room. Her smile disappeared as soon as she caught the look on the Ainu's face. "Horohoro?"  
  
He kept his face averted, not willing to look into the face of one who reminded so much of Ren. It wasn't like him to be so depressed over one person. This...new feeling was constricting his heart with a wire cage—and it didn't feel good. He wanted to constantly throw-up...he even started to contemplate going back to the North and severing all ties with any Shaman he knew.  
  
"Listen," Jun said softly, sitting next to him on the bed. "Do you really think Ren would've gone back to Tokyo if he hated you?"  
  
"I'm not depressed over that brat!" Horo snapped. "I just- I'm still sick from being outside in the rain." He gave a small, pathetic, extremely fake cough and curled up into a ball on the bed, trying to ignore her previous words, which he found somewhat comforting.  
  
"Well, all I know is when Ren came back he spent the whole time throwing a temper tantrum in his room until he decided to go back," she laughed softly. "And my guess would be that he went back to see you." She walked out of the room quietly, and, for the first time in the past couple of days, fell asleep peacefully.  
  
_ "Horohoro..."  
  
The blue-haired Ainu turned quickly, only to come face-to-face with an ice- wall. His reflection looked back at him: a gaunt, rigid face with blank black eyes stared back at him. His usually spiky hair now hung in limp clumps around his shoulders, framing his tired, sharp features even more than usual.  
  
"Horohoro..."  
  
"Who's out there?" he yelled. The voice echoed in his head like a dull river that could only whisper.  
  
Something caressed his shoulders and chest...something that did so with the practiced air of a familiar lover. It felt so cool...he felt as if he could just melt away and forget everything...  
  
"Horohoro..."  
  
Ice cracked beneath his feet, threatening to throw him over the edge into darkness once more. He did nothing to move himself from the cold embrace...  
  
"Awaken, Ice Warrior..."_  
  
(Angry) Author's Notes: The only thing that makes writing this story painful is the fact that there are so many fucking homophobic flamers out there! To Flmethrower: Sorry, hon. I've been to Hell and back, had lunch with the devil and ate his bird. Kindly not review this story again. Everything is CLEARLY fucking stated in the disclaimers. If you don't like it...you can go somewhere else. Get to know your sexuality better, dude. Only out of respect for the reviewers do I keep your flame up. To ALL OTHER FLAMERS: Stay away from this story! Everything yaoi on this site is a work of art, just like hetero! If you don't like it, find somewhere else to direct your anger! Please leave a review nn;;  
  
**Story Title:** Demon's Eye by Deep Purple **Chapter Title:** Keep 'em Separated by Offspring 


	7. Down With the Sickness

Something rotted poked out of the ground, stretching towards the dark heavens. It fumbled around for a little bit before getting a handhold on the dank, wet ground. Sinewy, gleaming muscles were visible in the gaps where there was little or no skin. Then, the head popped out. It was just as rotted as the arm—maybe even more so. Leaves and grime formed the outer covering of the thing. The left eye was a gaping hole where a bullet had gone through. The jaw seemed to see it fit to detach itself partway from the rest of the face. Groaning, the other hand popped out, looking just like its brother. Pulled taut, the atrophying muscles yanked the rest of the body out of its prison. It lay there, facedown, in the mud and leaves, unmoving.

All around the graveyard, other corpses like the first one were being drawn from their resting places. Some were equally rotted and others were fresh. There were even a few in between. Once out of their wood and dirt homes, they lay facedown on the ground much like the first one. Everything was silent as a graveyard. They seemed to be waiting for something…or someone…

Not everything in the cemetery was as inactive as the corpses. A deep, rolling fog poured in from some unknown source. It covered everything, including the waxing moon. Every light in the area went out, leaving one to stumble over headstones blindly.

"Ah, my creatures! Awaken! Be reborn as Night's children!"

The cry that rose up from their missing throats was horrendous. No longer motionless on the ground, they were now stretching themselves towards the heavens, praying to someone to make the pain stop. Joints popped and re-grew. Muscles stretched, folding and settled into place, brand spankin' new. Cracked and broken bones healed perfectly with restored amounts of calcium. Eyes, teeth, noses…other parts of the body pushed out of nowhere to reclaim their spot on the body. Then, the skin started pouring, like a waterfall tipped out of a pitcher. It spread over the body, shaping and sculpting itself to fit the new muscles and bones. It settled and gave gender to the being writhing on the ground.

Bits of moonlight pierced through the fog, bathing the mutating corpses in its healing light. No longer did they scream in agony as their bodies were twisted for a masters bidding. They reveled in the light; they were overwhelmed with thanks—thanks for giving them life once more: a second chance.

Ritual completed, the lifeless-turned-alive examined their new bodies.

They were pale. Not all the same shade of pale, but they still looked like they hadn't been out in the sun in forever—which was probably true for the larger portion of these monsters. Their ears were turned up into a sharp point and their hair was jet black—all of them. Fingernails were no longer kept short and trimmed: they were grown and shaped into sharp claws. Canines were longer and sharper…tinted with a hint of red.

Then, there came the thirst. The terrible, overwhelming thirst for human blood. It was as if they hadn't drunk in years—which again, was probably true for most of them. All they could think about was the coppery taste of blood.

One by one they flew out of the graveyard. They had one destination in mind: Tokyo.

Population: 12.369 million.

Above, a hideous shadow cackled madly, clearly enjoying the pain it knew was about to be executed on Tokyo.

"Ren **what**!"

The Asakura hotel jumped from its baseline and settled back with a crash.

Yoh and Manta scrambled backwards on their butts until they hit a wall. A huge, burning image of Anna rose up before them, hands on her hips and her eyes dangerously narrowed. One sandaled foot was a little too close to Yoh for comfort, so he scooted closer to Manta, hoping that is the foot came flying at him, he could use his little buddy as a shield.

"You let that freeloader leave, without even cooking breakfast for me? It was his turn to cook breakfast and you knew it, Yoh." Her overlarge frame quivered as she censured her husband and his friend.

"We're sorry, Anna, but he said he has important business to take care of!" Yoh protested with a little wink to his friend. They both knew he went back to China after Horohoro.

"Yeah! He was really spaced out this morning. We had no choice but to let him go," Manta put in with feigned innocence. "Why," he continued, shutting his eyes and holding up one finger. "I bet that when he finishes his business, he'll come back here and fix a feast for us!" he smiled unknowingly, hoping that the statement above would placate the dangerous Itako, who looked ready to send Amidamaru to Heaven.

"Hmph!" she huffed, crossing her arms and turning her back on the two boys. "You better see to it that he does, Shorty. Otherwise you'll be stuck with kitchen duty for the next millennium! As it stands…since Ren's not here, you have the job of cooking breakfast. Get going!"

The smaller boy immediately scuttled off towards the kitchen to start heating up the pans, leaving Yoh with the terrifying figure of his wife.

"As for you, Asakura Yoh," her tone didn't soften at all. "Fifty miles today! Get going!"

Sighing dolefully, Yoh got up and brushed off his pajama pants. "Alright. Let me go change…" he walked to the back of the hotel (through a labyrinth of stuff) to where the owner's rooms were. He had just barely taken off the white bottoms with little yellow rubber ducks on them (his favorite bath-time toy) when a massive crash shook the house right down to its skeleton. Still in his red and white heart boxers, he ran right out of his shared room with Anna towards the front of the house where the smoke was still clearing, grabbing Harusame off the wall as he went. Amidamaru appeared, gliding effortlessly along beside him.

'I sense there is something very dangerous entering the house, Master Yoh.' The samurai spirit stated grimly. A silver bang fell into his eyes as both he and his Shaman picked up speed to reach the front room.

The room itself was pretty trashed. The wallpaper was carved off in some places; scratch marks embedded deep in the wood framework. Chairs were overturned. The couch was ripped to shreds with the stuffing hanging out. Some of the floorboards had been pulled up, showing the cement base underneath the hotel. The television was lying on its screen, red and orange sparks flying all over the place. The food Manta had been cooking was strewn all over the place: noodles plastered to the walls, vegetables were lying underneath the bits of debris, the cutting board has been snapped in half, and the knives and pots and pans were either stuck to the wall, or broken on the floor. Anna's scarf was caught on an erect floorboard (Sheesh, that sounded wrong).

"What happened here?" Yoh exclaimed, ripping the red scarf of his wife off of the board. Bits of blonde hair were caught on the wood and in the kerchief. "Anna? Manta? Anybody here!"

A gagging noise brought the male Asakura to a standstill as something moved by the broken wall. Sunlight reflected off of it and back into his face. A bird chirped somewhere outside in a tree.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Amidamaru floated protectively at Yoh's side as the flaming little spirit ball, ready to be integrated into the sword at anytime. A sudden flurry of movement caught his attention.

"Master Yoh! Behind you!"

The black-haired Shaman was sent crashing into the next room with the force of the blow. Something smelly walked into the now-decimated kitchen.

It was tall, unnaturally so. It smelled like a Corpse Flower newly bloomed. The aura it gave off was black and tainted, but neither Amidamaru nor Yoh could see the thing fully.

"Nng…" Yoh threw the kitchen sink off his chest. "Man! What is that thing?" Spirit Ball Amidamaru rushed to his Master's aide.

"Yooooh Assssssakuuuuuurraaaaa…"

A long cape fluttered out of nowhere, and a Dracula look-alike stood before them in all…its glory.

"Finnallllyyyy, I haaaaave yoooou…"

"Finally…have…me? Amidamaru? Any idea what this creep is talking about?" Getting up, Yoh inspected Harusame to make sure the precious blade wasn't damaged.

'Not a clue, Yoh.' The samurai answered truthfully. A little piece of the spirit flew off and crackled in the air. Sniffing a bit, Yoh raised Harusame a bit into the air. A clear sign he wanted Amidamaru ready to integrate.

The Dracula thing snickered--which led to a nice bout of coughing. It still wasn't used to having a real, living, flesh-and-blood body. A bit of spit flew out from between full, parted lips, and some phlegm popped into the throat to say 'Hello!'

"Thaaat _puuuuny _shooooorddd willl dooo yooou nooo geeewwwd agaaaiiinsssst meee Asssakoooraaa…" the thing had a funny hissing accent that just grated on your nerves.

"Amidamaru!" Yoh held the sword straight up and a glowing light emitted from it. The said samurai flew up into the air, glowing a brighter red than before. "Into the sword!" in a flash of light, the spirit and the sword became one, forming Yoh's Over Soul. However, the thing had disappeared.

'Where did it go?'

"Beeehhiiiiiind yooooouu!" a rather large and rancid fist pounded into the Shaman's back, knocking him out the broken wall and into the open. Black particles flew out of the house and into the air, fast.

'Lord Yoh, behind you again!'

This time, Yoh was ready when the fist came flying at him. He brought Harusame up level with his neck to block the oncoming blow. Little crackling bits of lighting flew every which way at the point where flesh and metal met.

"Wow, this dude's stronger than he looks!" Yoh stated good-naturedly as he moved out of the way of another blow. The ground outside the Fubari Onsen Hotel began to dot with holes, bits of flesh and blood. Every strike Yoh made with Harusame pulled out chunks of skin, muscle and blood, but no matter where he struck, the thing kept coming back for more. The neck was blushing out blood, for Buddha's sake!

"What's going on, Amidamaru? Why hasn't he died yet?" parrying another blow, Yoh jumped back a few feet to catch his breath. The thing in front of him was a mess of gashes, severs, broken bones and any other injury you could think of…but it was still standing there, tall and proud. It was even grinning; baring long pointed, pearly white fangs at the same time.

'I'm not sure, Lord Yoh. But something is giving power to this monster. We must find what connects this thing to it's master and sever it!'

"Easy enough!" the brunette dodged a roundhouse kick to his face and jumped into the air, twisting his body so that he landed behind the Dracula-look-alike. The stench eminatting from the thing—even from about ten feet away—lulled the smelling senses to sleep. Yoh wanted to gag. Rotting meat—that overpowering smell of everything someone hates sticking it's disgusting finger right up Yoh's nose. Even Amidamaru was sickened…but only because of the sight.

And that's when he spotted it. A small, silver thread swaying with the movement of the Dracula-dude. If that wasn't it, then Yoh hoped to be struck by lightning.

He was sent flying backwards before he could get a chance to strike at the string.

"Do you honestly think _you_ can destroy my puppet that easily?"

Something cackled evilly in the shadows. All that was visible of the speaker was a pair of fierce yellow eyes. …and that voice…Yoh was sure he knew it…

_Best not to think of that now…_

Yoh jumped over the next attack with ease and struck at the cord with Harusame. "Shock wave Buddha-giri!"

Harusame bounced away, and the string remained.

"What!!" both Amidamaru and Yoh screamed at the same time. Their faces were mirrors of shock: eyes white, jaws hitting the ground in synch. Yoh almost lost his over-soul.

Rubbing the back of his head, Yoh sighed.

"This could take longer than I thought…"

Author's Notes: **::twitch:: ::twitch:: **

Yaoi Junkies,  
  
The following review has been submitted to: Demon's Eye Chapter: 1  
  
From: FLAMING DEVIL()  
  
US FLAMERS ARE RIGHT YOU BITCH YAOI SUCKS GAY ASS I ALSO JUST CAME HERE TO FLAME AND FLME THROWER 6 IS RIGHT YAOI SHOULD BURN IN HELL!

Why do I get the feeling that that dude is really Flamethrower? Can people **not** read warnings/disclaimers/…or can they just not read at all! For Christ sake, flamers…STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM OUR STORY!! You are crazy, uncivilized bastards that don't deserve to review a story. Especially OURS. Sheesh.

Falcon Strife: Me? Patient? Saroya? Patient? Hardly. They just piss us off. You should see us bitching back and forth at each other. Hope this chapter satisfies your needs

--Can someone verify that attack title? I'm not too sure...

**Story Title:** Demon's Eye by Deep Purple

**Chapter Title:** Down With the Sickness by Disturbed


	8. Wherever I May Roam

"Achoo!"

Once more, birds scattered from their nests to find a safer haven than where someone was rudely tramping through their forest. Horohoro sniffed and pulled his snowboarding jacket closer to him. He still hadn't fully recovered from his little jaunt a few days earlier, but he was eager to get back to Japan. He sneezed again.

Damn this gauntlet… 

Clutched in his hand was a crystal--or so it seemed--gauntlet. It was clear and intricate designs seemed to be pressed in between in the sides. It was part of his gift. Or so he liked to think…

He had discovered his destiny--or at least some of it. He was the reincarnated soul of the ancient Ainu warrior, Kamui-otopush. Along with the new knowledge he had gained from his "awakening" he had gotten a strange, strong feeling that he had to go back to Tokyo and see his friends. He felt that there was something he had to do now. He could feel the plants and the Earth tremble beneath unseen feet. It was unsettling, and he had to warn everyone. Especially Izanagi.

"Ah-ah-ACHOO!" the ground wavered.

¬.¬

Ren rubbed his hands together in the growing cold. His breath came out in short puffs of steam as he tried desperately to ignore the frost that was beginning to settle in his hair and tip his shark fin down.

_What_ is _going on? There shouldn't be any snow this time of the year. It feels like Horohoro's gone on a rampage. _

Leaves began to fall from the trees and whisper safely to the ground. The night air was beginning to feel like Antarctica during winter. Ren cupped his palms around his elbows and started rubbing them to keep warm. He felt faintly faint and his nose was running. He finally lost his temper.

"Horohoro! If this is some kind of sick joke you had better quit it now!"

The soft rustle of snow answered him.

"Achoo!"

Ren rubbed his bright red nose and looked around at his surroundings. He could just see the outlines of the Tao castle through the haze of darkness and snow that blanketed his vision.

'Master Ren, are you alright?'

"Yes, Bason. I'm fine. A little cold won't kill me," the Kwan Dao slung over his shoulder was beginning to irritate his skin as he felt the metal freeze. Another cold blast of air whipped its way through the trees and sent Ren stumbling back a few steps. "Well, hopefully not…"

He could hear something up ahead, though he wasn't sure if it was a fever or if he was going crazy. It sounded like metal-on-metal. He fought the wind, trying to find out with in the world could make that noise in the middle of the woods in a snowstorm. The wind pushed against him, sending him falling to his ass. The Kwan Dao fell from his shoulder and into the snow. Bason looked at him, concerned, but Ren flashed him a look that screamed: "Touch me and you'll die--again!"

The purple-haired shaman crawled on his knees towards the noise and pushed through some bushes. What he saw there he hoped he would never see again in his life--or afterlife.

They were…not even creatures. Certainly, they were tall and took on a human basis for a body, but they were…twisted. The faces had gaping holes in the pale skin. Their eyes were completely dead; just faceless, white pearls stuck into two eye sockets. Black robes billowed about their lean, fatless bodies. Their limbs were stick thin, and reached out like dead tree branches from their bodies. They appeared to be fighting, against what, he couldn't tell at the time. They seemed to be trying to dog pile their attacker--who, Ren saw with some horror, had spiky blue hair, a tan snowboarding jacket, and tan shorts on. Horohoro!

Ren's jaw sat at his knees as he watched his old comrade fight the strange creatures. The blue-haired boy hadn't noticed he was there yet. But, there was something different about him…Ren just couldn't put his finger on it…

He watched as Horo spun around in the air and landed a perfectly executed roundhouse to one of the things' face. In a flurry of snow it was repelled backwards a couple hundred feet. The Ainu ducked a blow coming from behind him and then jumped up, effectively slamming the thing right under the chin. That was it! His fighting style was different! There was no use of any oversoul, Kororo, snowboard…only physical attacks! He sucked in a breath when Horo was jerked from behind and had his arms pinned.

Grabbing the Kwan Dao that lay silently by his side, Ren picked himself up from the ground and raced towards the battlefield.

"Chya!" he roared, slicing one of Hell's creatures right down the middle. The one holding Horo dropped him and moved towards the new attacker.

"Aaaaahhh. Taaaaaoooooo Reeeeeeeeeennnn. I waasssss woooooonnddeeeeeering wheeeeeen yooooouuu'd shoooooow up tooo yoooour looooveeer's ressscueee…" it hissed through inches of missing teeth. Ren blushed slightly, but didn't let that stop him from cutting down the beast in one slash. He panted and looked over at the Ainu boy slowly, wondering he'd caught the thing's remark.

Horo looked him up and down, a puzzled look on his face. "Um, who are you?" he asked bluntly.

Ren's eyes widened. "What the hell does that mean?" He barked at the other. Horo continued to stare at him.

"Oh, I apologize if I'm being rude," he said, smiling, though Ren saw that his eyes held suspicion. "My name is Kamui-otopush. I appreciate your help." He held out his hand politely.

To say the Chinese shaman pulled a Yoh would be an understatement. His eyes went completely blank as his jaw dropped through the ground. He pointed his finger at Horo and fell to the ground in utter shock. Then a thought struck him.

"Quit fooling around, Horohoro. I already apologized to you for everything."

Kamui-otopush looked at him in confusion. "Who's Horohoro? What are you apologizing for? If it was for interrupting the battle, do not worry. Had you not struck them down--"

Swirls of clouds flew about as Ren sat on the ground with his hands across his lap. _He couldn't have amnesia, could he? Does he really not remember me? Why did he say his name was Kamui-otopush? He couldn't have amnesia, then. Amnesiacs don't remember anything, including a fake name. So what's his deal? Did Jun put him up to this? What's going on here!_

"Um, are you okay?" The blue-haired boy looked down at him curiously. "Are you injured? You look really pale." Ren stared at Kamui-otopush, his eyes blank. What was he supposed to do now? How could he convince "Kamui-otopush" that he was really Horohoro?

"By any chance did you hit your head on the way here?" The purple-haired shaman asked.

"No, why?" The other replied, looking even more confused.

"It was just a thought," Ren searched his mind for questions he could ask that would reveal the answer to the strange predicament. "May I ask why you're out in these mountains alone?"

"That's top secret," The boy's black eyes looked Ren over with heavier suspicion. "Though I am curious to why you are here."

Ren sighed, deflated and feeling utterly defeated. "Actually I was looking for you." Ren looked around. "Where's Kororo?"

"Who's Kororo?" was his answer. The little spirit appeared beside Ren in an instant. Her eyes were relieved to see the boy and she began to make frantic motions with her arms, pointing at Kamui-otopush.

"Did something happen to him?" Ren asked her. She nodded. "We should get him back to Yoh's house," he sighed and stood up. He looked at the blue-haired boy. "Listen, I think I know where you're headed and I'm going to help you get there."

Kamui-otopush frowned. "I do not need help. And how do I know you're not my enemy?" He glared at Ren. The Chinese boy felt a pang in his heart at seeing distrust in Horohoro's eyes, even though he knew it wasn't his love. However, he just rolled his eyes and continued down the mountain. After a few moments he heard the other give a sigh and begin to follow him.

"So, stranger," Kamui-otopush said from beside him. "Who are you and how do you know where I'm going?"

"I am Tao Ren, and even thought you do not remember me, I am a friend of yours," Ren replied, refusing to look over at the other.

"Hmn, I thought you seemed familiar," He said thoughtfully. "I apologize if I offended you earlier."

Ren gave a dry laughed. "No need to apologize--all we do is fight anyways." He quickened his pace; he neither needed nor wanted to talk to "Kamui-otopush" about Horohoro.

As the purple-haired boy walked away from him, Kamui-otopush could've sworn he'd seen a long of sadness of the boy's face. _Who is this strange boy? He's familiar, like a friend from a past-life. _He shrugged it off and decided to ask Ren more about how he knew him.

"But we have to be better friends than that if you came all the way up here to find me, right?" he asked curiously.

Ren blushed a little and turned away. "I was just in the area and I decided to look for you." The Ainu frowned again and stopped walking.

"That makes no sense--"

"Will you just shut up!" The boy reeled around on him. "You are not my friend--I don't even know who Kamui-otopush is! What was between me and Horohoro is none of your business! All I want to do right now is take you to Yoh's house so I can try and figure out what happened to Horohoro!" He turned back around and continued trudging through the snow_. Damn that stupid amnesiac! As soon as he gets his memories back I'm gonna kill him!_ He saw Bason watching him and growled in the ghost's direction. Bason looked at Kororo and shrugged as they began to follow his edgy master.

_Hmn, so I guess my name was Horohoro_. Kamui-otopush thought to himself and went on following the highly emotional boy ahead of him_. Well, if he can take me to Izanagi, then I guess he's somehow related to our destiny as well…_

Author's Notes: Well, that's that. Another chapter done. Oh, and Kamui-otopush is from an Ainu myth called Kotan Utunnai. You can thank Saroya and her endless supply of useless knowledge from finding the name/myth. (Of course, in the myth he's not nearly as empty-headed as he seems in this chapter. You can also thank Saroya for that, it is her specialty ;;-) If you want to know more, email Saroya at Thank you all for reading our story and please review (unless you're one of those evil flamer's and then you can just go bye-bye, k?). Thanks to all of you who have been giving us your support! We loves you!

**Story Title:** Demon's Eye by Deep Purple

**Chapter Title:** Wherever I May Roam by Metallica


	9. Ain't Afraid to Die

And now, for something a little different...  
  
"As soon as Yoh comes to get us out, I'm going to send him to Heaven!" Anna grumbled into her cupped palm. She sat on a pile of old, moldy newspapers and for the past hour and a half, had been complaining, threatening and yelling non-stop. It was beginning to irritate Manta and Ryu, but they said nothing.   
  
They were hauled up in a dark room, about a nine by three feet rectangle, piled high with old newspapers, which they used as chairs. Rats and such skittered across the dirty wooden floor, making Anna a bit nervous. She had always hated the dirty critters and her fingers were itching to clean the place up herself, or make one of the two boys do it. There was also a spiritual barrier placed on the walls. Whoever put them in there certainly didn't want them getting out.   
  
When Yoh had disappeared back to the room he shared with his wife, something broke through the wall and grabbed all three of them at once. They were carried into the woods behind the hotel, where they were promptly gagged, blindfolded and bound. Neither of the three had been able to get a glimpse of their captors--they moved with that much speed--but they were able to get a good whiff of them. Manta even through up around his white gag--the scent of rotting meat left out in the sun too long was enough to make all of their stomachs queasy.   
  
Then they had ben dumped in this dump. That was about two hours ago.  
  
"This place gives me the creeps! What if one of the rats has rabis? What if they bite us! I hate rats..." Ryu shivered and pulled his knees up to his chest, far away from the floor. His newspaper stack wobbled a bit, but didn't fall.   
  
"Oh, shut it already! I'm sick of hearing you complain!" Anna threw back, closing her eyes as if to calm herself down. She crossed one leg over the other, shifting a bit to get more comfortable.   
  
"I'm sick of hearing you bitch and moan, too, Miss Anna! You've been doing nothing but complain for the past two hours!"  
  
"I'm a woman. I'm allowed. Now why don't you focus on getting us out of here instead of yelling at me," steam blew out of Ryu's ears as he sat back heavily on the papers. He looked over at Manta who was curled up into a ball in a corner, muttering. "Unless, of course, you have a deathwish."  
  
That shut the black-haired shaman up right quick. He sighed in defeat and turned to look up at the dry-rotted ceiling. "I wonder why they captured us..." he mused out loud. Manta hissed and started shaking. "What's wrong, little buddy?"  
  
Manta was off his stack of papers like a rocket and clinging to Ryu's white shirt at mach one. "A rat just climbed down my pants!" he shrieked, still terrified. The other two shamans couldn't help it: they started laughing. And laughing. And laughing. In fact, they were laughing until the door to their right crashed open, lighting up the room in a rectangle of yellowish light. Someone stood in the doorway, looking at the three captives.   
  
It was tall. It had glasses. That was all Anna could make out from her position in front of it. The light behind was blocking her view of any details.   
  
"So these are the three?" the thing said. It had a low, rumbling voice, like it was being expelled directly from the chest. A shadow stepped up beside the man (it was clear now which gender the previous "it" was).  
  
"Yes."  
  
The weight of the man shifted so he was resting on his left leg. "Are you sure? They look kind of scruffy..."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Very well, then. All of you, out! Now!" he barked, turning to walk out the door. The three people inside glanced at each other, but slid off the stacks of rotting newspapers and followed out the door.  
  
o.O;;  
  
The "office" of Cathedral Yusha was nowhere near an office. It was cold and dank, smelling faintly of dried blood. Chains hung on stone walls; granted, they were highly polished and they didn't look used, but it didn't stop the shivers that coursed up and down the captives' spines. There was a desk in the back of the room with nothing on it but a knife--a fancy one, but a knife nonetheless. Manta stayed behind Ryu's legs as much as he could, hoping the tall people would just forget about him if he stayed quiet long enough.   
  
"What do you want with us?" was the first thing out of Anna's mouth once the door was shut behind them. There was very little light in the room so they still couldn't see much of the man who had led them out of the other room, except for the fact he was very tall, had glasses, and was extremely pale. Crossing her arms, the irritable Itako stopped walking.  
  
"Come now, my dear. Must there be so much animosity? I merely wish to help you," he sat down at the desk in a revolving leather chair (Corinthian leather, mind you). Anna still hadn't moved and Manta clutched Ryu's leg even harder. i Where's Tokagero when you need him! i0 Ryu silently prayed that his spirit ally would come to their rescue any minute. "It's no use, Ryu," the man said, not looking up from the top of his wooden desk. Lengthy fingers idly fingered the polished knife. "Spirit barriers have been set up all through the compound. None of your dead friends will be getting in anytime soon."  
  
Bakuto no Ryu gasped and backed up a few steps, tripped over Manta, and went sprawling to the floor in a heap. Pointing at the man behind the desk, he managed to stutter out "W-w-w-what...h-h-how...get out of my head! " Anna looked at him funny.par  
  
"Ah, but how can I, when your thoughts are so clearly projected? But let's skip that part, as I'm sure the readers are wondering who I am, as are you three."  
  
"Yeah!" Manta yelled, coming to stand beside his Itako friend bravely. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am Cathedral Yusha, Necromaner extrordinaire. You want your daddy back? I'll do it! For a fee, of course," he didn't seem to notice the stares he was getting from his captives. Of course, this man probably wouldn't care either way. He was the kind of person who said "screw you" to someone who said "you talk to much" or "you're a jackass." A lightbulb lit up somewhere in the room--as if someone finally realized that the lack of light was killing Anna's, Ryu's and Manta's eyes. They finally had a good view of their captor.   
  
Yusha's skin was powdery white and completely flawless. He had wavy black hair that reached his shoulders--and not a single strand was out of place. His business suit was crisp and pressed, like any good businessman, but he looked like a total nerd with his wire-rimmed glasses. His eyes were a dull green. That was really all the teens could see. No ears, arms, legs or feet.  
  
"What does that have to do with us?" Anna demanded in her bossy voice. Her icy black glare turned to Yusha, who flinched not. The hair on the nape of her neck was beginning to stand on edge. She was nervous, though she would rather die than admit it. Something about this man was familiar...and it chilled her to the bone.  
  
"Yes, yes. I'm getting to that. Patience is a virtue, you know," he waved his hands frantically in the air as he talked, like he was shooing away a fly. "Of course, Izanami was never good at waiting..." he muttered, almost as an afterthought.   
  
"Who's Izanami?" Manta asked curiously. For a moment, he forgot that this man had kidnapped them.   
  
"Ah, you will see, all in good time, my short friend."  
  
"HEY!"  
  
--;;  
  
As Yoh tramped through the forest, it finally dawned on him that he had no idea where he was going. Clutching his right shoulder, he stopped in the middle of a clearing, looking around for some sign that might point him in the right direction. There was nothing. Sighing, he plopped down on the grassy ground and took his hand off of the wound on his shoulder.   
  
The Dracula-zombie thing had finally managed to injure him about fifteen minutes later. There was a deep gash on his shoulder. After that, the thing just exploded. Not a-thousand-and-one-bug-guts exploded, but it just desintegrated into a million pieces.   
  
'Lord Yoh! You must go get that wound treated!' Amidamaru begged.  
  
Yoh waved it off. "It's just a scratch. Hey, you!" a ghost froze a few yards away, shoulders bunched up by it's head. Slowly, it turned around, amorphous sweat dripping down it's forehead. The Shaman King immediately jumped to his feet and rushed over to the spirit, who kneeled. Well, that made Yoh stop. It took him a minute to figure out why the ghost was kneeling. Then: Sometimes, I hate being Shaman King...  
  
"Get up, get up! I just need to ask you something," it was a female ghost with long orange hair and an old-fashioned Sakura kimono. Her eyes were still wide with fright, but she swallowed hard and nodded, rising to her feet. "Did you see three people come by here? One had shoulder-length blonde hair with a red dress, one was really, really, really short," he dropped his hand to about knee level. "And the other had ridiculously large, poufy black hair. Did they come by here anywhere?" breathlessly, he stared at the spirit, heart beating with the prospect of a clue.  
  
Putting a finger to her chin, the ghost thought. She did remember seeing three zombies dart by carrying something, and she remembered catching a glimpse of red. She hadn't gone near because they felt BAD. BAD was BAD, she was taught by her father, so she shouldn't go near them. Was that them? Maybe...  
  
Nodding, the spirit motioned for Yoh to follow her. He looked to Amidamaru with hope shining in his pearly black eyes before following.   
  
They were led into a darker part of the forest, one that teemed with evil. The ancient Samurai suddenly began to worry. He didn't know why, but he did. There was something about this forest that he didn't want to know about, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Then, it hit him like a ten ton Elephant.   
  
'Wait, Yoh! It is a trap!'  
  
Too late. Four Dracula-wanna-bes sprang at them from four sides and efficiently dog-piled Yoh. The woman-spirit who had been leading them fled in silence. These men were BAD too.  
  
"Nnyah!" the attackers were blown off by some unseen wind as Harusame sliced through the air. Amidamaru had re-integrated with the sword once more while no one was paying any attention.  
  
"It's not nice to sneak up on someone from behind, you know."  
  
Suddenly, his day was looking much brighter as he lashed out at the zomboids.  
  
An uppercut to the face, a slash to the wrist, go, Yoh, go! Bits and pieces of flesh were thrown everywhere as the things made their date with the butcher. Giving up the Higher Spirit has got to be the best decision I ever made! Yoh thought as he kicked another one in the side. His wodden sandle went flying off in some unknown direction when the thing grabbed on to him.  
  
'Yoh, behind you, again!'  
  
Not needing to be told twice, Yoh spun around, slicing the thing in half at the waist. Green, slimy blood poured out of the wound and the spinal cord just up and fell out of the back.   
  
"Disgusting!"  
  
Sticking his tongue out and wrinkling his nose, Yoh turned back around, waiting for any others to come and attack him. They were all dead...again.  
  
'I have a bad feeling about this...'  
  
"Me, too. But we have to keep going to find Anna and Manta. Now where'd that ghost get off to...?" Yoh looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the one who had led him here. She did not appear, though a strong, black aura was emitting from the east.   
  
"Do you feel that, Amidamaru?" the evil aura was beginning to cascade down Yoh's back in rivulets of sweat.   
  
'Yes, Lord Yoh.' Floating gently beside his shaman, the silver-haired samurai looked off to the east. Normally ghosts don't feel fear (unless they're around Anna), but...this...this was pure terror.   
  
.;;  
  
Anna sighed for the fourteenth time in fifteen minutes. This guy would not stop rambling on and on about some spirit he'd thrown back into a body to grant it a second chance at life. He had been jabbering for at least an hour now.  
  
Manta nudged her in the side. "When's he gonna stop?" he whispered as quietly as he could.   
  
"Yes, when will he stop? My ears are going to fall off!"  
  
"I'll stop when I feel like stopping, Kagu-tsuchi! Be patient!"   
  
Raising an eyebrow, Ryu looked at the other two as if to say, "Kagu-tsuchi? Is this guy on crack?"  
  
Slamming his hands flat on the desk, Cathedral Yusha stood up and glared at Ryu. "That is the last straw, Kagu-tsuchi! If you can't remember your manners, I'm going to have to make you remember them!"   
  
Yusha stared at each one of them, peering into their souls, drawing out an energy so ancient, so powerful, each of the three nearly died. It rumbled in their stomachs, piled in their throats and blew out their mouths so quick, you'd think you were watching everything on fast forward. One by one, Anna, Manta and Ryu slumped over on the floor. Blinking, Yusha stood up and walked over to them.   
  
"Get up, you lazy good-for-nothings! Izanami, Kagu-tsuchi, Ryo-Wo! Awaken!"  
  
Author's Notes: Wow! Two chapters out in two days! I think that's a record...Anyway. Now we're really moving along in the plot! We're really excited to introduce what's happening next! Please leave a review or a critique letting us know what you like/don't like, to all the reviewers! nn;  
  
Story title: Demon's Eye by Deep Purplebpar  
Chapter title: Ain't Afraid to Die by Dir en Greypar  
  



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